Context may be defined as any information useful in characterizing the situation of an entity. An entity is a person, place or object that is considered relevant to the interaction between a user and an application, including the user and applications themselves.
Such information can be of many sorts, including computing context (network connectivity, memory availability, processor type, CPU contention, etc.), user context (user profile, location, actions, preferences, nearby friends, social network(s) and situation, etc.), physical context (e.g., lighting, noise level, traffic, etc.), temporal context (time of day, day, month, season, etc.), history of the above, etc.
Context information finds many applications in mobile devices. For example, “Bump” is a smartphone app for exchanging business card-like information between two users' devices. Each phone running the app senses a physical “bump” that occurs when two phones are touched together. Each phone sends a time-stamped report of such event to a Bump server, together with information about the phone's GPS location, and information about the strength of the bump. The Bump server examines the incoming reports to identify corresponding pairs of bumps, based on similarity in time, location, and bump strength. When such a match is found, the server provides to each phone the contact information for the other user. (The same technology can also be used to exchange songs, photos, and other information between bumped devices.) The Bump technology is further detailed in patent application 20110191823. Related technology is described in patent application 20110076942.
Location information is another type of context data, and is sometimes used as a fraud-prevention measure, e.g., in connection with credential presentation. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,503,488 teaches that if a driver's license is presented as a form of identification by a person cashing a check in New York, and the same license is presented an hour later by a traveler checking in for a flight in Los Angeles, something is amiss. Similarly, if a user presents a bankcard to an ATM in Phoenix, while GPS tracking indicates the user's cell phone is in Atlanta, the bank may treat the ATM transaction as suspect.
In accordance with aspects of the present technology, context information is used in novel and useful ways. In one particular implementation, a first smartphone presents a screen display that is based on context data, derived from one or more of its sensors. This screen display is imaged by a camera in a second smartphone. The second smartphone uses its own context data to assess the information in the captured imagery, to make a determination about the first smartphone.
In accordance with another aspect of the present technology, social network friend requests are automatically issued, or accepted, based on contextual similarity.
In accordance with still another aspect of the present technology, delivery of a message to a user is triggered by a contextual circumstance other than (or in addition to) location.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present technology, two or more devices automatically establish an ad hoc network (e.g., Bluetooth pairing) based on contextual parallels.
In accordance with still another aspect of the technology, context information is stored in a memory, and serves as a history archive that is used in transactions with other devices, e.g., in challenge-response authentication.
Many other aspects of the technology concern wearable computers (e.g., head-mounted display systems), and related uses of context.
The foregoing and additional features and advantages of the present technology will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.